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Saturday, June 10, 2000 Special to the Post-Gazette
CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Forward Paul Conway's hat trick propelled the Charleston Battery (5-3-2, 25 points) to a 3-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Riverhounds (4-3-1, 18 points) and into a tie for first place in the A-League's Atlantic Division with the Hampton Roads Mariners.
RIVERHOUNDS
The Riverhounds began their two-game road trip playing catch up after Conway knocked in his first goal of the game off a free kick from defender Nicky Spooner. The ball flicked past Riverhounds goalkeeper Randy Dedini to put the Battery up, 1-0.
In the 22nd minute, the Riverhounds earned a penalty kick after midfielder John Jones was tripped and knocked to the grass by Gilbert Jean-Baptiste. Defender Nick Terlecky took the penalty kick for the Riverhounds, but his shot sailed wide right. The Riverhounds are only one for three in converting penalty kicks this season.
It looked as if the Riverhounds might ease back into the game with some help from their host. In the 24th minute, Battery defender Darren Warham tried to pass the ball back 40 yards to his goalkeeper Dusty Hudock. The ball slipped under Hudock's feet into the goal -- tying the score at 1-1.
The Riverhounds created several scoring chances in the remaining 20 minutes of the first half, but they could not convert.
"Creating scoring chances was not a problem for us tonight," Coach John Kowalski said. "We made good progress from our game last week [against Toronto], but we either shot wide or Dusty Hudock made a great save."
The second half at Blackbaud Stadium opened with the Riverhounds dominating the first 15 minutes. The momentum, however, shifted quickly to the Battery after its first set of substitutions in the 59th minute. Midfielder Temoc Suarez entered the game and made an immediate impact. In the 61st minute, his perfect lead pass to Conway set up Charleston's second goal.
In the 66th minute, Conway completed his hat trick off a crossing pass from defender Dean Sewell deep in Riverhounds territory. The goal was the seventh for Conway this season.
The Battery received four points for the win and an additional bonus point in the standings for having a three-goal game.
"They had four or five good chances and converted on three of them," Kowalski said. "We made the same mistakes defensively this week as we did in Toronto. The first goal was a free kick that went unchallenged. The second and third ones were crosses that went directly to Conway, who was not covered."
Phil Karn, the Riverhounds' leading scorer last year, saw his first action of the season in the second half. He has been out of the lineup following a hairline fracture in his foot.
He contributed as soon as he replaced Mike Butler by taking advantage of several scoring chances with four shots.
"We need him," Kowalski said. "He looked very good, very lively tonight. He was aggressive and took quality shots. We are glad to have him back."
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Matchup: Riverhounds (4-3-1) at Atlanta (4-4-1), 7:30 p.m., DeKalb County Memorial Stadium.